How Can We Help You?

Barbara S. Williams Proudly Announces WilliamsFord And Her Partnership With Cory R. Ford.New Name, New Website, Same High Quality Service...

Shattered Hip after Tractor-Trailer Crash in Centreville Results in Use Of Cane for Life. Settlement: $700,000

Awarded: $700,000

This case arose following a motor vehicle collision on April 2005 on Route 29 in Centreville, Virginia. At approximately 5:45 a.m., the defendant tractor-trailer driver made a left turn onto Route 29, obstructing the path of the plaintiff’s vehicle. Police photographs showed that the trailer was not equipped with retroreflective conspicuity tape as required by federal regulations, a fact not disputed by the defendants. Deposition testimony of the both the plaintiff and an eyewitness traveling in the opposite direction on Route 29 was that the defendant’s trailer did not have any working lights and was not visible at the time of the crash, although the cab lights did work.

As a result of the crash, the plaintiff suffered a transverse acetabular fracture, right-side rib fractures and a crush injury to the left wrist with a severed tendon. The acetabular fracture shattered the plaintiff’s left pelvic wall, requiring multiple reconstructive surgeries. Plaintiff, then a 38-year old airline mechanic, had a titanium hip replacement and now ambulates with the use of a cane for life.

Suit was filed against the driver of the tractor-trailer, his employer (a trucking company), and the president of the trucking company in his individual capacity (as individual owner of the tractor-trailer). The suit alleged negligence per se based on numerous statutory violations, including the failure of the driver and company to properly inspect that the trailer was equipped with working safety equipment.

The defense argued contributory negligence based on evidence that at the time of the crash the plaintiff was speeding, was lost, and had insufficient sleep while returning from a friend’s house in the District of Columbia after having attended a show at a night club in Southeast Washington. The friend, whom the couple had met on the Internet, was unable to be located. Further, Plaintiff testified that he had not consumed any alcohol the night before the crash. However, statements in plaintiff’s medical records appeared to conflict with plaintiff’s testimony regarding his alcohol consumption.